Pillow TGA RLE encoder can serialize up to ~57 KB of adjacent heap data into generated images
Priority HIGH 66CWE-125Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 11 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-125 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.2.0 until 12.3.0, Pillow's TGA RLE encoder reads past its packed row buffer when saving a mode 1 image with TGA RLE compression, allowing adjacent process heap bytes to be copied into the generated TGA file. This issue is fixed in version 12.3.0.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00313 24th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial Pillow (python-pillow): 12.3.0Pillow (PyPI): 12.3.0Red Hat: 11 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| python-pillow | Pillow | 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 | 12.3.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | Pillow (PyPI) | 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 | 12.3.0 | Patch available | GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq |
- Pillow Vendorpython-pillow Affected 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 Fixed in 12.3.0 Patch available CNA
- Pillow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 Fixed in 12.3.0 Patch available GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 | Vulnerable | python-pillow |
- cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.2.0 to before 12.3.0 Vulnerable ·python-pillow
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Pillow (python-pillow) Fixed in 12.3.0
- Fix · GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq Pillow (PyPI) Fixed in 12.3.0 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Exploit Intelligence | Affected | — |
| Lightspeed Core | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat AI Inference Server | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | — |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | — |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | — |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | Affected | — |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-59198
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq
References
Patch 2
More python-pillow Pillow vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-76627 Out-of-bounds read in Pillow TIFF encoder ColorMap handling CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-76625 Quadratic-time denial of service in Pillow PDF save_all CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76605 NULL pointer dereference in Pillow's Image.merge function CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76604 Out-of-bounds read in Pillow TIFF decoding leaks heap memory CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-76602 Double free in Pillow ImagingScaleAffine on allocation failure CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76600 GIF seek in Pillow keeps rejected size, allowing denial of service CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
Sources
- CVE-2026-59198 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-59198 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-59198 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences